The Creation Hypothesiswill be welcomed particularly
among those who favor a balanced treatment of origins and among
those who applaud the kind of science education outlined in The
Liberal Art of Science: Agenda for Action. The Report of the Project
on Liberal Education and the Sciences (Washington D.C.: AAAS,
1990).The aims of this AAAS agenda to which The Creation Hypothesis
significantly contributes include: (1) subject matter organized
around specific problems, issues, and themes, (2) study of the
methodological landscape of science in comparison with the methodologies
of other arenas of rational human discourse, (3) analysis of ideas
of causality, (4) use of integrative concepts in science that
transcend disciplinary boundaries, (5) appreciation for the atomic,
chemical, biological, geological, and cosmological scales of the
universe, and, (6) subject matter that draws from the history
of science, which fosters a better grasp of the arguments and
reasoning behind current science.

The theme of The Creation Hypothesis is the "intelligent
design thesis"-- both its philosophical and theological parameters
and its fleshing-out in specific scientific theories. The problems
and issues addressed include the scientific status and legitimacy
of both the intelligent design thesis and Neo-Darwinian theory,
astronomical pointers to a Designer, as well as the origin of
life, biological diversity, and human language capacity. Most
of the essays are equipped with a final paragraph that catapults
the reader into subsequent essays. The level of coherency and
continuity is striking for an edited volume of essays. The
Creation Hypothesis would balance out a liberal arts science
or philosophy of science course when used alongside texts that
assume or assert strict methodological naturalism.

The book's thought-provoking philosophical study of origin
science methodologies-- the book's first three essays-- is skillfully
materialized in the four scientific surveys that follow. One is
reminded (in form, not orientation) of Descartes' "Discourse
on Method" (now read in philosophy courses) which Descartes
followed up with several essays on specific sciences (usually
ignored today). The book's early essays draw extensively from
Larry Laudan's philosophy of science (and from other sources including
the original work of the authors) in order to replace Paley's
tired arguments from design with a surprisingly new and robust
rationale for design inferences. As a whole, this volume of essays
demolishes the common objection that design inferences result
only from our ignorance of natural causes rather than from
our knowledge of the essential limitations to natural causes.
Far from limiting our options, this new group of design proponents
expand our range of questions and possible answers in origins
research.

Scientists and advocates of broad liberal arts learning will
appreciate The Creation Hypothesis' use of transdisciplinary
concepts such as "information." The essayists approach
the concept of "information" from philosophical, theological,
biochemical, and linguistic perspectives. These approaches illustrate
clearly the difference between the trivial information within
the order of a snowflake or the order of a trained ape's "sign
language" and the substantial information of proteins and
grammatical human language. This volume shows how information
theory commands our attention within many scientific disciplines
and illuminates our study of nature on its various scales-- from
atomic to cosmological.

Part of this story draws from the history of science, particularly
in noting the role of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) in providing
the foundational ideas that made possible a profound connection
between human language and the language of genetics.

The Creation Hypothesisis an excellent introduction
to the methodologies and theories of origin studies. Its contributors
include some of the leaders of a new and more sophisticated generation
of "intelligent design" proponents. Students and scholars
alike will appreciate its fresh perspectives, concise summaries,
and useful bibliographies.